Nwankpa Laments Poor Preparation For C’Wealth Games

Obisia Nwankpa has said that Nigeria’s poor preparation in boxing may spell doom for the country’s medal prospects at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

The National Boxing Coach made the assertion in an interview with newsmen at the weekend at the Boxers’ Camp at the Games Village, Surulere, Lagos.

“Our preparation is zero; we lack proper training kits, our gymnasium is nothing to write home about, the boxers lack experience which can only come from a training tour,” Nwankpa said.

“We are supposed to be preparing for the Commonwealth Games and yet we don’t even have a vehicle in place to transport the boxers to the stadium for training,’’ he said.

Nwankpa said that non-response of the sporting authorities to his several request for training kits had reduced the nation’s boxing profile and the morale of the team in camp.

“Currently, we  don’t have International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) graded referees and judges, talkless of participating regularly in AIBA tournaments,’’ Obisia said.

He said the time the boxers had spent in camp was too short for any meaningful progress to be made.

“We need about 10 weeks to prepare a team for a tournament and we have yet to get there and the camp will go on break from Aug. 7.

“You don’t stop midway in a training programme. Training is supposed to be continuous and you don’t stop for a break,’’ Nwankpa said.

“Getting to the Games itself will be a miracle considering the confusing state of affairs in the boxing federation,’’ he said.

The Commonwealth Games will hold from October 3 to 14.